In aircraft, fuel cell arrangements can be used for the recovery of water from the fuel cell exhaust gas. Hereby, it is necessary to condense out the water contained in the exhaust gas flow water vapor by means of a condenser.
For the condensation of the water vapor, a cooling circuit may be provided to which two heat exchangers are coupled. This may involve a primary heat exchanger (PHE) and a secondary heat exchanger (SHE).
The condensation is performed hereby by indirect cooling by means of coolant, which is finally cooled by external air (see FIG. 1). This indirect cooling is necessary to prevent icing of the primary heat exchanger due to direct contact with external air, the temperature of which can be significantly below the freezing point of water. However, this arrangement may be complex and associated with a high overall system mass.